Wonder Cabinet

If you look at a mountain, you might see a skiing destination, a climbing challenge, or even a source of timber to be logged or ore to be mined. But there was a time when mountains were sacred. In some places, they still are. What changes when you think of a mountain not as a giant accumulation of natural resources, but as a living being?

Human identity cannot be separated from our nonhuman kin. From forest ecology to the human microbiome, emerging research suggests that being human is a complicated journey made possible only by the good graces of our many companions. In partnership with the Center for Humans and Nature and with support from the Kalliopeia Foundation, To The Best Of Our Knowledge is exploring this theme of "kinship" in a special radio series.

To learn more about the Kinship series, head to ttbook.org/kinship.

Original Air Date: July 24, 2021

Interviews In This Hour: 

What Do You Owe The Mountains Around You? — 'These Are Live, Active Places': A Ute Activist Fights To Save The Bears Ears National Monument — A Poet Finds Life Lessons on Hunger Mountain — 'I Was Born To Volcanoes'

Guests: 

John Hausdoerffer, Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, David Hinton, Lisa Maria Madera

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In peaceful times, and in moments of violence, writers have used their art as protest, remembrance, and sometimes, political acts. We talk with poets and novelists about how they deeply notice the historical time we live in — through their words and voice.

Original Air Date: May 07, 2022

Interviews In This Hour:

Poetry as protest: 'When people are powerless for so many hundreds of years, language becomes a weapon' — 'All writing is political': Author Bernardine Evaristo on tenacity, growing up Black and British, and winning the Booker Prize — Should we still read the 'proud imperialist' Kipling?

Guests:

Ilya Kaminsky, Bernardine Evaristo, Christopher Benfey, Salman Rushdie

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Categories: writing, activism, politics, philosophy, poetry

Wakanda is a very American version of an idealized African future. So how do African science fiction writers tell stories about their own imagined future?

Original Air Date: December 10, 2022

Interviews In This Hour:

Deconstructing 'Black Panther': African Scholars Respond to the Hollywood Blockbuster — Wakanda is only the start: 'Africanfuturism' and dreaming of bigger, bolder African futures — How Marlon James Created His African 'Game of Thrones'

Guests:

Mshai Mwangola, Nnedi Okorafor, Ainehi Edoro, Marlon James

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In the 21st century, there are a lot of old crafts we think we don’t have much use for anymore. Blacksmithing. Wood turning. Spinning and basket-making. But here's the funny thing — as our world gets more and more virtual, traditional skills are starting to look better and better to a lot of people.

Original Air Date: April 09, 2022

Guests:

Sara Dahmen — Monroe Robinson — Nick Offerman

Interviews In This Hour:

Could you build your own pots and pans? Coppersmith Sara Dahmen revives a lost art — A craftsman alone in the Alaskan wIlderness — ‘He’s my Shakespeare’: Nick Offerman on the craft and wisdom of Wendell Berry

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Pop music is a gazillion-dollar industry that churns out hits and creates celebrities. It seems like the definition of ephemeral – today’s chart topper is gone tomorrow. But pop music is a powerful vehicle for bringing people together, and fans - from K-pop to the #FreeBritney movement — have something to teach us about community and hope.

Original Air Date: March 26, 2022

Interviews In This Hour: 

When we're disconnected, can we reconnect through K-pop? — From pop to punk: Shaping our musical identities — How a fan movement freed a pop star from her gilded cage

Guests: 

Regina Kim, Kyla Nicole, Kelefa Sanneh, Samantha Stark

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How we live is indelibly intertwined with the care and empathy we give to each other. What if we put care into helping Americans find homes and build dwellings, into keeping their bodies and minds sound, and finding meaningful and well-paid work? In this three part series, "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project bring you real life stories about economic struggle in our time, as well as ideas for solutions.

Original Air Date: November 19, 2022

Guests:

Andrea Dobynes Wagner — Angela Garbes — Rodrigo Toscano — Barbara Ehrenreich

Interviews In This Hour:

Do they need to know that I'm blind? — The work of care is vital. Why don't we pay like it is? — A sonnet for a lineworker — Barbara Ehrenreich on writing the American labor story

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How we live is indelibly intertwined with the care and empathy we give to each other. What if we put care into helping Americans find homes and build dwellings, into keeping their bodies and minds sound, and finding meaningful and well-paid work? In this three part series, "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project bring you real life stories about economic struggle in our time, as well as ideas for solutions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health challenges can push people into poverty. Meanwhile, the experience of financial desperation can also create even more trauma, even more suffering. How do you break the cycle? How do we truly care for people mentally and financially?

If you or someone you know are having mental health struggles, we wanted to make sure you are aware of some resources. The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling 9-8-8. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reminds us that one in five people in the US has a mental health concern every year. You can find support and education at their web site, nami.org.

Original Air Date: November 12, 2022

Guests:

Alex Miller — Katie Prout — Daniel Bergner — Maia Szalavitz

Interviews In This Hour:

Trauma and poverty: The perfect storm experienced by U.S. veterans — Learning to cope when mental health care feels out of reach — More than one way to treat a mind — How harm reduction disrupts painful cycles of addiction

Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast.

Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

How we live is indelibly intertwined with the care and empathy we give to each other. What if we put care into helping Americans find homes and build dwellings, into keeping their bodies and minds sound, and finding meaningful and well-paid work? In this three part series, "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project bring you real life stories about economic struggle in our time, as well as ideas for solutions.

In the first of three episodes of "Going For Broke" all about the care economy, we're thinking about housing. Many of us would consider it a basic human right. But in America, it can be hard to come by.

Original Air Date: November 05, 2022

Guests:

Bobbi Dempsey — David Harvey — Annabelle Gurwitch — Justin Garrett Moore

Interviews In This Hour:

When the walk home from school keeps changing — Creating a compassionate geography — More supportive housing can start with sharing space. And upending assumptions. — The infrastructure of care

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As a culture we’ve long been fascinated by witchcraft, with witches through the ages practicing magic and making spells. Even through the spread of misinformation, and when they’ve been hunted and silenced. We take you from the 17th century to the online witch communities of today.

Original Air Date: October 30, 2021

Guests:

Honey Rose — Rivka Galchen — Chris Gosden — Quan Barry

Interviews In This Hour:

WitchTok, the super-connected coven — Are you now, or have you ever been, a witch? The witch hunt of Kepler's mother — From alchemy to internet witchcraft — the thousand-year history of magic — Spellcraft, field hockey and Emilio Estevez — the girl power of novelist Quan Barry's teen witches

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Is there a better way to talk about death? And to grieve? So many people have died during the pandemic — 4.8 million and counting — that we're living through a period of global mourning. And some people — and certain cultures — seem to be better prepared to handle it than others.

Original Air Date: June 19, 2021

Guests:

Heather Swan — Gillian O'Brien — Charles Monroe-Kane — Gabe Joyner — Rafael Campo

Interviews In This Hour:

The Barred Owl Who Came To Visit — How The Irish Talk About Death — How To Remember A Beloved Brother? A Memorial Tattoo — A Physician-Poet Bears Witness to the Pandemic's Lost Voices

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